Kairalla T'Rez
'Kairalla T'Rez '''is an asari commando with the Armali Sniper unit. Biography Kairalla T’Rez came into the galaxy in the early hours of November 25, 2077. She was born to the recently married couple of Kaltana T’Rez, a former soldier for the asari republics, and Larem Yieko, a former gunsmith and sharpshooter for the drell peace forces on Belan. Soon after she was born, the family relocated to a medium sized homestead on the arid, sparsely-populated planet of Kalril, the land granted to them by the hanar for Larem’s exemplary service. This would be the place where Kaira would grow up, her earliest memories consisting of running barefoot through the dunes just to the east of her home. Her mother educated her, filling her head with the militaristic ideals of selflessness, duty, and sacrifice for the betterment of the galaxy. Her father educated her in a much different, far more interesting way. Drell, by asari standards, live short lives. Larem was no different. He lived every day knowing that eventually, the hitch he felt with each breath would catch up to him - that eventually he'd die, and leave his daughter and wife behind. He was going to make sure that when he did, he would have imparted all he knew to the little girl. So, starting when Kaira was no older than 35, barely older than a child, he began teaching her to shoot, straight and clear, at any range. A year later, he began teaching her how to make weapons, how to fuse the wiring, bend the mass effect fields to her whims. A few years after that, she was shooting the rifles and pistols she had created herself. During all this time, he also imparted something much more important: his memories, philosophies, and lessons that would shape Kaira for her entire life. The lesson that no matter what your superiors may order, you are responsible for your action. The lesson all people, no matter how bad, have a good side. The lesson that you ''can make a difference for the galaxy, as her mother said, without signing away your freedom. Each one of his teachings was labeled by number, filed away, and ready to be recalled whenever the situation required. The last of her father's lessons was the hardest. When Kaira was 50, her father was turning 85, extremely old for a drell. He was nearing the end of his days. One never would have suspected that by looking at him, however. The drell continued his work until the very last days before his death, still tinkering with various weapons on his deathbed. Going without anesthetics or hospital treatment, simply so he could spend his last days with his wife and daughter. He was determined to be the master of his own death. That was his final lesson to his daughter, his final teaching: to never, ever stop. To, as she recalls it, “push, and push, and push, until finally something gives.” He breathed his last breath on January 2nd, 2127, leaving behind nothing physical for his daughter but a small, religious token: a prayer flag to Cyria, the drell goddess of life. It bears a simple message in traditional drell script: ”Goddess of the sands, may you guide me to your arms so I may no longer wander.” His death also left her with another, far more painful lesson. She had thought that he would live forever, that he would always be there for her and her mother. Instead, she was forced to realize that no one belonging to any race other than the asari and the Krogan would be there forever. They would grow old, and they would die, no matter how much she cared for them. Kaira spent the next 10 years of her life training with renewed tenacity, sharpening her skills with a rifle to a razor edge. By the time she was 60, the minimum age for the asari militaries, she could use her rifle more skillfully than 50-year veterans of the force. In boot camp, this preparation showed. It gave the young asari a chance to wholeheartedly throw herself into her work, to finally use everything she had been taught. In practice, she shattered records in both marksmanship and stratagem, astounding officers and earning herself a recommendation to one of the most prestigious orders of the asari military: the Commandos, more specifically, the Armalis. Known to her as an elite warrior-order of snipers, wielding the legendarily-deadly M-98 Widow rifle, stationed aboard their own frigate: The ARS Arlaine. Her training began on August 1, 2142. She and a group of more than 100 other selected recruits were set down on a planet, given a set of coordinates, and told to start running. If they didn't make it to their coordinates by the day's end, through the planet's thick forests and swamps, they would be eliminated from the program. Suffice it to say, tests like these were efficient at culling the herd, and there would be plenty of tests over the training period of 35 years. Topics covered in their training ranged many fields, from lessons over the physics and trigonometry of a projectile, to simple, brutal tests of biotic endurance. The Armali order was different from every other asari warrior order. Whereas the huntresses and justicars put emphasis on solo work, Armalis are taught that the best results are found in a pair: a sniper, and a spotter. All through training, this point was emphasized. Pairings became sisters, and it wasn't uncommon for them to develop romantic connections. That was why it was so unfortunate that in the final year of training, Kaira’s spotter washed out, and at the end of it, only the young sharpshooter and two of her fellow trainees remained. She turned 100 only days before she received her rite of passage, the augmentations that would define the rest of her military career. She was the second youngest asari ever welcomed into the Armali order, the youngest ever, of course, being her new CO: Polgara Bel’Garis, the now 375 year-old commander of the Armali Snipers. She was a legendary figure song the military, the kind of person a young asari would have an action figure of. Her virtues were drilled into the minds of the recruits: honor, unwavering discipline, loyalty to the republic. Kaira had looked up to her for the entirety of her training, which made the sniper all the more happy when her CO approached her only a few days after her Rite: she needed a new partner, her former having left the order for reasons the elder sniper wouldn't specify. She said she saw potential in her, potential to do great things, to go beyond the asari. Kaira accepted the offer immediately, relishing the idea of spotting and sniping with a legend. Pol, as she liked to be called, was much different than all of the comics and trading cards had said. Instead of working with a stoic, no-nonsense commander, as Kaira thought she would, the asari found herself working alongside someone much different. The CO was friendly, laid-back, caring, the polar opposite of her common portrayal. This fact was most heavily reflected in her opinion of the Republics: she was completely disillusioned. She felt that the asari needed to take a more direct role in the Galaxy, that they needed to step out from behind the shadow of the Council (whom she thoroughly believed to be corrupt) and work directly for the greater good of the Galaxy. These were opinions that she openly voiced to Kaira, and her only, during their long sojourns on mission, in which they were the only friendly souls for miles. She grew to respect her CO immensely in their 6 years of working together, adopting similar views in relation to the politics of the asari. She hoped, for a time, that their relationship might have grown deeper than simply partners. This was a vision that would never come true, as in January 2183, Polgara went AWOL, disappearing into the Terminus Systems with no warning or explanation. Kaira was promoted to the Executive Officer position of the Arlaine soon afterward, to the chagrin of many of the elder crewmembers. The reasoning behind this was simple: not only was she Pol’s favorite, but she was honestly already a better sniper than most of them could hope to be. As the XO, she was tasked with more missions, and with the eventual job of starting the Armarli “shared-arms” program. With this new position, she gained a cushy apartment in the Bachjret Ward on the Citadel, free of charge, although she feels that the spot is rather lonely. When she is here, she spends most of her time attempting to make friends, and working on various weapon designs, as well as working on an ever-continuing search for her old friend, partner, and mentor... Physical Description In simple terms: Kaira emanates beautiful youth. Her facial expressions, her voice, her quirks and habits; every little thing adds up to the image of an asari maiden. She speaks with simplicity and enthusiasm, her tone almost always lighthearted, with a slightly lilting accent gained from her home colony. She carries herself with generally well-contained energy, having learned in boot camp that fidgeting wouldn't get her anywhere. As one would expect of one her age, Kaira has a laundry list of quirks to iron out. She has a tendency to tap her feet when any kind of music is playing, even humming along when it's an enjoyable tune. When in conversation, her facial expressions will bounce from emotion to emotion without any semblance of control, which has lost her quite a few card games with her sisters-in-arms. The most unique, and noticeable, features of Kaira’s appearance are her obvious cybernetic augmentations. There are deep, uniform scars down the length of her arms and shoulder-blade, where nano-titanium supports were grafted into her bones to provide structural rigidity that would hold against the recoil of her rifle. Even more obvious are the metallic panels on each side of her collar, constructs welded onto her completely artificial collarbone to provide mechanical resistance to the recoil through the use of pistons and microscopic mass effect-driven resistors. Externally these constructs manifest as uniform metal panels, each about the size of a playing card, jutting just a millimeter out above the surface of her skin. Kaira has adjusted well to these additions, losing every trace of self-consciousness related to them, even enjoying the explanation of their function that she has given innumerable times. Outside of combat, the sniper prefers sleeveless clothing, as articles with sleeves tend to get snagged on her panels. This has led her to adopt several pieces of human clothing into her main rotation, the most common piece being the tank-top, a stylism she wears with great gusto. When in combat she wears Armali Arashu plate armor, comparable in weight and protection-provided to Alliance Apex armor. Her personal set is still painted with snow-camo from her latest outing in the field. Kaira’s combat style is very much centered around the nature of both of her weapons: she hits extremely hard, with pinpoint accuracy, generally from a distance, using warp and warp ammo to weaken barriers, shields, and armor before-hand. She also practices an ancient asari martial art, from when the race was still in the early stages of the black-powder era, by the name of Taliat Sul. It focuses on stunning one's opponent with vicious biotic-strikes, before disengaging using blink or charge, aiming down on the opponent with one’s rifle or sidearm, and executing with deadly precision. Despite all of her training, however, her skills have yet to be effectively stress-tested, all of her missions thus far being relatively elementary. Personality In many ways, Kaira is the stereotypical definition of the asari maiden. She is hyper, happy-go-lucky, and very aware that she is still young, with 900+ years still ahead of her. This manifests in a generally kind, spunky attitude that emanates off of her wherever she goes, except while on a mission where she manages to keep some semblance of professionalism. Her sense of humor isn't the most refined, and can even be considered juvenile. Kaira is very naive, as she genuinely believes that there is good in everyone, and as such is extremely trusting. Despite this, Kaira is tough to manipulate: she has a good sense of when someone is coercing her to do something for ill reasons. She is simply a bad judge of character and will fight loyally for her “friends”, no matter how unkind or toxic. Her youth also manifests in many obvious ways, such as her childish fascination with huntresses and their swords, Although, this obsession has diminished slightly now that she had joined a warrior-order just as exclusive as the ranks of the Commandos. One could call her a closet-nerd, a fact proven by her former participation in Galaxy of Fantasy and Asari Heroes, though she does her absolute best to hide it from anyone but the closest friends. Kaira also inherited many genetic characteristics from her drell father. Aside from the obvious physical benefits of flexibility and agility, she inherited a portion of the amphibious race’s most unique traits: a near perfect memory. While in no way photographic, as it is with the drell, she can easily recall details from events many years before, and often does such when remembering her father’s teaching. There are two traits that are not easily discernible from an outsider’s view of Kaira. The first and foremost is that she is extremely stubborn, and has even been described as iron-willed. If she misses her target with her first shot, any observer can be sure that she'll continue to pursue them with unwavering gusto. However, this trait can often make her seem obstinate, or even single-minded, when pursuing a target. Instead of looking for an alternative path to her objective, she will simply throw herself at an obstacle until her plan is accomplished. Kairalla also possesses a deep-seated fear of romantic commitment, specifically to any of the shorter-lived races of the Galaxy. While she will not hesitate to befriend a human or turian, anything further she will shy away from primarily due to a painful (and personal) understanding of just how long asari live, and just how short her lover’s life will last in comparison. She is terrified of the pain involved in losing someone so close to something she can't possibly stop, and thus she attempts to avoid relationships with short-lived species. Armament Kairalla utilizes an M-98 Widow sniper rifle and a TR-1 Missionary heavy pistol. She carries with her blocks of modified Warp Ammo, and utilizes them alongside her omni-tool's Defensive Drone application. Her biotics are honed to weapons-grade, and she wears a set of Armali Council Arashu Plate Armor when fighting. Category:Characters Category:Asari Category:Soldiers Category:Snipers Category:Armali Sniper Unit